Real Wedding: Olivia + Joshua’s Glamourous Wedding

Happy Monday everyone! I’m excited to start of the week with this gorgeous real wedding. I think I’ll let Olivia tell you more about their day :). When we sat down to start planning the wedding, we had a tiered concept that we wanted to encompass our celebration. That concept was a celebration of the covenant of marriage, the love of our families, and the support and care of our community. We wanted our wedding to be about our relationship and the relationships that make it most meaningful. When it came to the actual decor and feel of the wedding, we chose a soft, glamourous color palate, opted for a lot of organic floral decor and soft candle light, and focused on the wonderful food, great music, and fantastic company. It was truly a memorable evening.

The flowers and venue design were the incredible conception of Lauryl Lane, who also happens to be my oldest sister. We were completely blown away by the magic she created with her incredible vision; from chandeliers hanging in the trees to moss covered tables, she captured the elusive organic elegance that I requested. The musical note flowers were a DIY creation of mine that I wanted to include because of the centrality of music to our relationship. Joshua and I met in college, I was a vocal performance major and he fronted a bluegrass/folk band called the Red River Connection, it seemed only right to give a nod to our shared love of the art.

Aesthetically I know what I like, but I’ve never been much of a planner, and I certainly didn’t have any preconceived notions about what I wanted my wedding to look like. The most important aspects to me were the ceremony and the company of our loved ones. I have seven amazing siblings and their presence and involvement was one of the most beautiful parts of the day. During our community candle lighting ceremony they sang an incredible rendition of “One Voice” by the Wailin’ Jennys that brought tears to all of our eyes. I invested most of my energies in planning the order of service and the personal touches in the ceremony, and left the reception details to Lauryl by way of Joshua.

Most memorable moment of your wedding day?The ceremony as a whole. There were tears and laughter and the company of our dearest family and friends, it was incredibly moving and sincere.

Our venue was the chapel and plaza at our University, and held many special memories of the beginning of our relationship. I spent many long hours in the chapel where we were wed practicing on the piano, and the first time I saw Joshua was on the plaza where we had our reception.

Our invitation suite was a collaboration between my incredibly talented mother (a professional calligrapher) and my husband Joshua, who is a graphic designer. I wanted something that would be elegant with a touch of whimsy, and it was perfectly realized in the final product. Joshua also created a unique “B” seal that was on all of our paper goods, a nod to his design aesthetic. The elegant, natural hand of the calligraphy, paired with the iconic nature of the brand, mirrored the marriage of our own, unique styles. (photos above by Lauryl Lane)

Any advice for those planning now? Don’t let the industry cliches dictate your wedding planning. Our wedding was wonderful because we allowed it to be about only what was most important to us, and as such it was a wonderful representation of who we are. It also really cut down on the stress of planning because we didn’t feel obligated to include extra elements, so our evening was more of a celebration than a ritual.

And a bit from Joshua, the groom! :)

My personal, favorite part of the wedding ceremony, aside from the bride, was the music. The Red River Connection (mentioned above) played all of our ceremony music with a gorgeous, natural sound magnified by the high stone walls and slate floors. The instrumentation was guitar, dobro, fiddle, viola, double bass, accordion, grand piano and mandolin. Having our friends there was very special to us, and it added a very organic, natural element that backdropped the whole ceremony wonderfully.

There were moments in the ceremony in which the band matched the feeling of the event so well the music felt like a film score. Some friends even approached us during the reception to ask if they could get the soundtrack to our wedding.

Thanks so much Olivia + Joshua for sharing your beautiful day with us. We wish you all the best! And thanks to Alec Vanderboom, one of our sponsors here on Green Wedding Shoes for letting me share your gorgeous photography. Alec is based in Kansas City, MO and available for travel world wide.

Jen, thanks for the beautiful feature! For those of you interested in the paper flowers, Olivia designed and made those herself- aren’t they fabulous? Olivia will be guest posting on my blog, Aesthetic Pursuits (http://www.lauryllaneblog.com) with the tutorial on Friday!

I love the look of this wedding! I wish they would have covered the unity ceremony part. We got married about six months ago and we used a Unity Cross in our wedding and loved it! It sits on a table in the corner and we see it everyday and it reminds us of our wedding.